


We'll Rattle the Stars

by Ausphin



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Can I call it a slowburn if they've already been hecka gay, Episode 4: Dark Room, F/F, Fix-It, Hospitals, Rachel Lives, References to Drugs, Spoilers, Superpowers, Will add tags as I update, the unfun kind. the drugging people kind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-05-27 05:33:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15017735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ausphin/pseuds/Ausphin
Summary: set near the end of ep 4, canon divergence. Planning on a long fic. Jefferson should've thought twice before picking on teens with powers“That jackass creep teacher shot at me then must have missed, tried to run but I caught up and hit him and hit him and-” Chloe coughed, suddenly aware of how gleeful she sounded, “-and then he went limp and I hit him a few more times then called 911.”“Holy shit, Chloe.”





	1. Freed from Amber

“Please hurry! Nathan said he was getting rid of her bod-” Chloe called behind her as she ran through the junkyard, last word cut off with a stifled sob. _“Of Rachel!”_

Max wheezed as she trailed after, turning the corner to where Chloe was already clawing at the ground in a frenzy. Pausing for a second to catch her breath, Max noticed near the tree line a deer that looked almost luminescent. “Oh god, Max, look… she’s still there.”

As Chloe crouched over the hole, the deer suddenly reared up. Max tensed and started to turn to see what was spooking it but felt a prick in her neck and stumbled forward to the ground. Her hand shot up to rewind but the world was spinning and her mind felt too cloudy to use the power. “Chloe! Look out,” she wheezed, voice faint.

Chloe spun around, but slow. Too slow.

The flash of a gunshot.

Then as if in slow motion, Max watched the bullet shift trajectories for seemingly no reason, ricocheting back off the air itself around Chloe. She heard a yelp and the gun fell into her view along with a few specks of blood. “Oh fuck, my hand!” hissed an all-too-familiar voice even to her blurring mind and vision, Mr. Jefferson.

He started to backpedal but Chloe had fire in her eyes and was charging, a sudden wind practically lifting her after him. As Max fell onto her side and they left her sight, her eyes got heavier, heavier. The last thing she saw was a dirty flannel-clad arm reaching for her.

-=-=-=

Max came to consciousness slowly with a killer headache. Cracking an eye open, all she caught was all-too-bright fluorescent lights overhead and a glimpse of white sanitized surroundings before the pounding in her skull made her wince again. _‘My arms feel like lead, where am I…?’_

Then the memories came flooding in of the junkyard, Jefferson, and she went rigid. _‘Is this the Dark Room?!’_

She forced her eyes to open despite the bodily protest, vision acclimating to the bright room as she noticed a previously-rhythmic beeping that was now increasing rapidly. “A… heart monitor?”

Suddenly the ceiling was blocked by a familiar face, Chloe full of obvious relief. “Woah, woah! Easy there, Max! We’re good, you’re good.”

Fighting her own sluggish body, Max shot her arms up and wrapped around her. “Chloe, you’re okay!”

“Funny thing for someone in a hospital bed to say but… hell yeah.” Despite her grin and the usual bravado, Max had gotten used to being able to peel past it and could see that she had been worried. Then the words registered, and she twisted around to check her surroundings, a half-room with the curtain to her left drawn and tables next to her covered in flowers and cards.

“Jesus, what happened?” She could apologize to Kate for that later.

“It was so awesome! That jackass creep teacher shot at me then must have missed, tried to run but I caught up and hit him and hit him and-” Chloe coughed, suddenly aware of how gleeful she sounded, “-and then he went limp and I hit him a few more times then called 911.”

“Holy shit, Chloe.”

“Then police took him and raided the Dark Room so I think he’ll be rotting in some cell for a long time. The best shit is Davi-dick has no clue how to act around me now, he’s hella sorry. Also you took like, two days to wake up. We were almost worried, Super Max.”

“You, worried? That’d be the day,” Max gave a feeble laugh before catching herself. “But it has been a hell of a week, Chloe. I’m _so_ sorry about what we found.”

Like she hadn’t heard her at all, Chloe practically beamed. “Oh, by the way have you seen your roommate?”

Chloe grabbed the curtains and slid them to the wall and Max was left gaping. There, pale and gaunt but in the flesh was Rachel Amber, who gave a weak wave and a faint “Sup.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation with THE Rachel Amber in the flesh

Max sprung up into a seated position (and immediately regretted it as vertigo hit) to stare at Rachel. “Holy… wowzers.”

“Did she just say…” Rachel started to cackle but turned into a cough as Chloe sat on an unoccupied portion of her bed and grabbed her free hand. “Damn, you were not kidding, Chloe.”

Max felt a flush rising through her face. “What, did she say that I was a dork or something?”

“She said that you were cute and I’d like you. So far, two for two.”

“Excuse you, I definitely called her a nerd too,” Chloe chimed in, grinning at Rachel.

Max smiled at them too, then dimmed slightly as she felt a pang of jealousy hit. Biting her lip and chiding herself, she focused on Rachel again. After a wild week of hearing every possible take on her and how everyone felt, she wasn’t sure what to expect but most of what she saw at this moment was someone fragile. “Not to be heavy but… how did you even survive, Rachel?”

“I honestly don’t know. The last thing I remember was April and then some blurs, scattered memories. But there’s no way I lasted a month in a hole…” Her brows furrowed in thought and she nervously toyed with her earring. “But the police just think I lost time with the drugging. Or druggings. And maybe was just buried in the last week?”

Chloe’s eyes widened and she brightened a little as an idea hit her. Catching Max’s eye, she mouthed ‘Powers!’ and spelled it out with her hands. Rachel stared up at her inquisitively since she’d let go of her hand. “What, do you think I’m magic or something? I wanted to be a supermodel, not superhero.”

“First of all, babe, you’re hella magic to me always. Second…” Chloe trailed off, exchanging a look with Max.

“And second?” Rachel prompted.

Max stared at her for a moment, trying to read the enigmatic face she’d seen in dozens of pictures by now, stacks of missing posters. “Actually… powers might be realer than you think since I can rewind time.”

“Uh-huh…” Rachel studied Max to see if she was kidding, eyes locked and smart and intense and beautiful and suddenly Max could see more of the interest in her. It also made her feel microscopic. “I’m not doubting you but. Do you have a way to prove that?”

Looking around for something to write on, Max settled on one of the get-well-soon cards within reach and tried not to think about how Rachel seemed to have four times as many near her. Flipping it open, she skimmed it and decided the-Vortex-Club-would-like-to-send-their-well-wishes stationary was worth the sacrifice and turned to its back. ‘ _Sorry Victoria._ ’ “Chloe, can I borrow a sharpie?”

“What makes you think I carry around markers?” Two pairs of knowing, judging eyes turned on her and she wilted. “I haven’t tagged in a week anyway,” she mumbled as she relinquished a dark blue one.

Max tested the marker on her wrist before focusing back on Rachel. “Okay so how about I ask you for favorite animal, fave gemstone, fave sport and then I can rewind and answer these before you give them?”

“Sounds good to me. Answers are: blue jay, alexandrite, and… does surfing count?”

Trying not to focus on thoughts of Rachel in swimwear, Max’s cheeks reddened a little as she continued. “Good. Sounds good.”

“You may also need something I haven’t told anyone, just in case.” Rachel thought for a minute then nodded and leaned out as Chloe rolled her eyes and scooted a few inches away. Max leaned out to meet her and let her whisper it in her ear, getting goosebumps at the proximity. “Really? Wow but. That’ll work.”

Writing down the first 3 answers, she lifted a hand and felt time roll backwards. “-you have a way to prove that?” Rachel was saying.

“I think I do! I just asked you this then rewinded time – rewind? Rewound? Rewinded – you told me your favorite animal is a blue jay, favorite gemstone is alexandrite, and favorite sport is surfing but you didn’t know if it counted.”

She grinned. “Okay, Max, that’s pretty good. I love games, but how do I know Chloe didn’t tell you those before?”

Max leaned out and beckoned her to do the same. Rachel quirked an eyebrow but did the same. Max tried not to think of the intimacy and whispered, “You told me that your dad had said your family moved here for Blackwell and to get away from natural disasters but that they seem to have followed you here.”

Rachel stiffened and turned to face her. Max got the feeling that Rachel usually kept herself pretty moderated but this info seemed to have knocked her back and left something raw, a mix of shock and discomfort. Then she blinked a few times and pulled back, looking a little dumbfound but clearly interested. Chloe chimed in, “Freaky cool, right?! She did the same thing with me to tell what I had in my pockets.”

“That one doesn’t really help your case. I don’t need time-travel or x-ray vision to know you’re always broke and low on smokes,” Chloe swatted at her and she cackled. “Hey hey, no hitting the hospitalized girl! Okay, but damn. Even if you have powers, what makes you think I do too?”

“I’ve got this one,” Chloe replied, snatching back her marker and using it to help her gesture dramatically to accentuate her points. “First one, when you knocked down that trashcan you screamed and the wind seemed to pick up only around you like you were Storm from the X-men. Number two, the… you know.” She blinked, unsure whether Rachel would want her to mention the fire but it was clear they both remembered it.

Rachel flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling. “Maybe the weather did follow me here,” she murmured half to herself.

“There is maybe something else,” Max started, thinking of her visions she saw from the past week but almost faltered under their combined gazes as the pair looked to her. “It’s uh. Well, when we came to the junkyard and when I first started seeing things, I saw a ghost deer or doe thing watching us.”

“I think that _was_ _me_!” Rachel covered her mouth in surprise. “I dreamed about it, being a deer that’s free to do whatever. To… escape.”

“Babe! You totally have powers and can astral project and shit!” Chloe dropped into a hug then pulled back as Rachel yelped. “Sorry! I keep forgetting. Hospital. Recovery. Tender girlfriend.” Rachel gave her a shaky thumbs-up and laughed, holding her hand again.

‘ _Girlfriend_.’ Max felt a pit in her gut as she watched, Rachel with glee in her eyes and Chloe staring back down with reverence. _‘Had Chloe ever looked at me like that? Did I lose that when I went to Seattle?_ ’

Shaking her head to clear it, Max chimed in again. “If you really do have nature magic or something, maybe nature preserved you? My friend Warren’s the real comic nerd so I’d have to check with him on how this stuff works.”

The scene was interrupted by a nurse knocking on the door and peaking in. “Girls, I’m so happy to see you all awake and okay, really. But um. Could you please keep it down for the rest of the people here? Eleven is a little late for a ruckus.”

Max winced and looked at Chloe, knowing how the punk would take this. Rachel caught it as well and kept a hold of one of her hands to prevent her from flipping birdies. “I understand, I’m so -cough cough- sorry. I got a bit -cough- carried away with my friends here.”

If the nurse noticed how much the coughs were being played up, they didn’t let on. “Oh, no problem at all. Just remember to keep it down please!”

Once they were alone again, Chloe pouted at Rachel. “Aw, c’mon. What’s the point of flipping someone off with only one hand? Double-barrel or bust.”

“I guess it is pretty late though,” Max tried to check her phone, but apparently no one had put it on the charger so it was dead. Chloe passed her a cord so she could turn it on later.

“For a goody-two shoes maybe,” Chloe teased. “Damn though, I just got whiplash from being the only one responsible enough to even know the time. I guess you two should get some sleep though. Y’all got hella visitors tomorrow.” She moved a chair to the middle of the room and grabbed one hand from each of them. “But until then… I’ve got dibs.”


	3. Chapter 3

It was so dark, Max didn’t even know where she was at first. But as her eyes slowly acclimated, she found herself back at the lighthouse. ‘ _Oh no…_ ’

Making her way up the trail that had embedded itself into her nightmares, she reached the peak and found the storm still there.

She heard footsteps and looked to her side to see herself twice over, identical ‘Max’s aside from their clothes. One was still wearing Rachel’s red flannel while the other seemed more preppy. ‘ _Is she from the timeline where I saved Chloe’s dad?_ ’

The two Maxes were focused on the lighthouse and she followed their gaze just in time to watch a boat lifted by the storm hit it, same as before. She lifted a hand to rewind but so did the others and she felt the world freeze then stretch itself towards both her and them. Like a rubber-band, she suddenly worried about the recoil of it snapping back.

Then it was gone. And so were the other Maxes. She fought the wind to get to the fence where a newspaper was caught and picked it up. At first it said October 11th but before her eyes it began to shift erratically to the 13th, 17th, 14th, two weeks out, one day away.

-=-=-=

Max shot up in bed, panting and covered in sweat. Looking around, she began to catch her breath as she remembered where she was, the hospital room. ‘ _Holy shit. What does this mean? Is the storm still coming? When?_ ’

Turning to make sure she hadn’t woken anyone, she seemed to be all-clear. Chloe had been in the chair between the beds and was still draped across it like a ragdoll. A ragdoll that snored. Rachel had her back to them but was lying still, only motion her rhythmic breathing.

Max turned to try to look for a clock on the wall and came face to face with a doe. The deer, a translucent blue as before, was at the foot of her bed and staring right at her. Blinking, she leaned forward. “Rachel?”

The doe cocked its head, then shook it ‘no’. “Oh, right. Sorry, must be a different English-understanding ghost deer hanging out in my hospital room.”

Trying and failing to resist the urge to pet cute things, Max leaned closer and held out an arm to it. The deer stared at it a moment then put a hoof on it, somehow immaterial yet with a gentle weight on it. Max blinked and awkwardly shook its hand then let it withdraw.

Then the doe brought its head down to her hand and nipped her playfully, a weird sensation that gave her chills. “Hey!” Max whisper-yelped. “Very funny.”

The deer stepped back and _pranced_ over to Rachel’s bed, hopping onto it in an easy bound. Then it settled atop her side, laying for a minute before dissipating. Rachel turned towards her with eyes glowing spectral blue like the doe, blew a kiss, and gave her a wink as it faded.

Max turned beet-red but it was Rachel’s accompanying giggle that drove her to bury her face in her pillow. ‘ _Is she flirting with me or taunting me?_ ’ Certain that she was still watching, Max snuck a peek out and sure enough she was. Rachel quirked an elegant eyebrow enigmatically and rolled back over, leaving Max to steep in her fluster and decide to herself that it was mostly flirting.

-=-=-=

The next morning, they were awoken by hospital staff checking on Max and Rachel and verifying their current condition. Both seemed functional, Rachel seemed to still have some balance issues or legs a bit weak from her time captured or underground. The doctors cleared them both but asked that Rachel continue to try walking on her own but to have someone nearby if necessary to lean on.

Max tried to hide the envy as Chloe glued herself to Rachel’s side and the pair giggled.

As the staff was leaving, Max remembered her phone had been charging and used it as an escape to leave the other two be. Turning the phone on, as soon as it was up it was barraged by messages she’d missed.

The first half-dozen were from Warren, joking at first over whether he’d made a fool of himself at the Vortex party then the last ones sounding more worried since news had apparently spread that she was in the hospital. She started to type then stopped, stared at the phone’s keyboard a moment then gave up. The week was pretty wild and she felt too burned out to think on what to reply with.

She also had calls and texts from her parents asking her to call them once she was feeling up to it. ‘ _Oh jeez._ ’ The rest seemed to be well-wishes from half the students she’d connected with the help of rewinding.

Max was about to look through her cards when a nurse poked her head in. “Sorry to interrupt, but you have visitors if you’re feeling up to it. One of Rachel’s parents is here.”

Chloe stiffened at this, exchanging a look then helping Rachel into the bed before storming towards the door. “If your dad thinks he can just come here-”

They heard another voice from the hall and Max watched as an unfamiliar woman stepped inside. “No guarding necessary, James isn’t here.”

Chloe’s demeanor did an about-face as she saw her. “Mrs. Amb- I mean, Rose!” The woman pulled Chloe into a quick side-hug before releasing her.

“Thank you so much. For everything and for always believing. I knew I shouldn’t have listened to him, but James kept poisoning my views even during the divorce.”

Chloe awkwardly patted her on the shoulder as she moved on to Rachel and held her in a long embrace.

For once reading the room and detecting the need for privacy, Chloe drew the curtain across the middle of the room and sat at the foot of Max’s bed. “That’s Rachel’s mom. Or stepmom? If they divorced I don’t know what that makes her but… it’s a long story. Maybe Rachel can tell it or give me the okay.”

Not for the first time, Max was struck by how much she’d missed in Chloe’s life while in Seattle. Even the last few days seemed to have had a radical turn, a crack in the punk’s façade. Two days ago they’d found what they thought was a dead body, but Rachel’s return let loose a lot more humor and glee.

Sitting up, she slid next to her and held her hand, entwining their fingers. Chloe squeezed her hand and turned to her. “Something on your mind, Mad Max?”

“Nah,” Max lied. “Just thinking, I’m pretty sure Kate’s here too so we could probably go check on her.”

Chloe nodded and pursed her lips. “If you want, you can go ahead. I’d really rather not leave Rachel, at least for now. I wanna watch you too but at least you have your… ‘abilities’.”

“I understand.” Max held her hand for another few minutes before reluctantly letting go and standing up. “I’ll text you if I’m not back in 15 minutes?”

“10 minutes?”

“12, final offer.”

“Deal. I’d ask you to shake on it but then we’d just be stuck holding hands again.” Chloe laughed as she dodged Max swatting at her.

-=-=-=

The trip to Kate’s room was quick and uneventful, she still remembered the location from when she had visited a few days ago. Everything felt like a lifetime ago.

She lit up when Max entered. “Oh, it’s so good to see you! I worried when I heard you were here as well and managed to convince my parents to let me stay a few more days just in case.”

“Oh Kate, you already have enough to worry about. You don’t have to watch out for me.” As Max headed to one of the chairs, she noticed bright red on one of Kate’s cards. Picking it up, she saw Jefferson’s signature had been scribbled out. She showed this to Kate. “So, you heard?”

“It was… dreadful. When I heard about him, it just made so much sense over how he’d been so attached to some students. I know I shouldn’t… but I hated what he did to you and Victoria.”

Max stiffened at hearing about the other girl. “Victoria?”

Covering her mouth, Kate gasped. “Oh no, I’m sorry, I thought you knew. I guess Jefferson grabbed her before running into you… but they found her in his car just tied up.”

Still holding the card, Max stared mindlessly at Victoria’s signature on it. ‘ _Did I lead her to that?_ ’

As if she could hear her thoughts, Kate broke the silence. “So, since you and Chloe took him down, looks like you saved another person too, Max. You really are an everyday hero.”

Max let herself be pulled into a hug. “Oh, Kate.” ‘ _I wish I could believe that._ ’

“Oh, but how could we forget? We’ve been so rude.” Kate pointed to her table, where her rabbit’s tank had been brought in to. “We’ve been ignoring Alice!”

After a while spent fawning over the bunny and chatting (lightly peppered by Chloe checking in over text), Max parted and started heading back to her room.

A detour to the nearest vending machine resulted in her getting intercepted by an unlikely visitor. “Well, well, if it isn’t my bestie, Max.”

A smile and a lack of sarcasm threw her off and Max took a few seconds to recuperate. “V-Victoria? What was that?”

“Me trying something different with you that didn’t work, let’s forget that.” Even when not trying to be harsh, she seemed… brusque. “I would’ve visited your room but… this is hard enough with an audience of just you.”

“What’s hard?”

“Me trying to thank you. I know I haven’t always been the friendliest. I heard Nathan got ‘brought in for questioning’ along with Mar- Mr. Jefferson.” Victoria shuddered at the name. “If you hadn’t warned me about Nathan, I don’t know what happened. I just wish I’d went to someone else other than him.”

“Victoria… I’m sorry. I lead you right to him. I-”

“Fuck that,” she cut Max off. “I bullied you for weeks and even after that, you warned me. It’s not your fault that you couldn’t solve something that the police couldn’t, especially since half them are in the Prescott’s pockets.”

“A-aw, Tori.”

“Retracted. And if you tell anyone about this conversation, you’re dead. If you’ll excuse me, my mom’s moving me to a private clinic to get better service.” She started to storm off, then paused and awkwardly patted Max’s shoulder before moving on. “Tell Rachel… I don’t know, nevermind. Never speak of this again!”

‘ _This week just keeps getting stranger._ ’


	4. Chapter 4

When Max got back to their room with some snacks in tow, Chloe was still sitting on her bed. She looked up as she approached. “Heya Max, Rachel’s napping. Rose left a little bit ago. She told me to pass along a huge thanks to you. I suppose I never did that either.”

“You don’t have to, Chloe. I know you would do it for me, and besides this week has been the greatest in my life even despite… everything.”

“For real, though,” Chloe persisted. “On Monday I told you that Rachel saved my life and now you’ve done it a dozen times over. Like damn, save some hero bidness for the rest of us.”

Even though it was clearly two compliments, talking about Rachel brought back the frog in her throat. ‘ _I can’t keep this up, I have to tell her_.’ “We should talk…”

Chloe blinked and gave a nervous laugh. “Is that not what we’re doing right now? What’s up? I’ve already had the birds and bees talk so no worries there, bud.” Her joking fell flat against the other’s seriousness.

“I don’t know if you could tell but I’ve felt a little distant for at least the last day or so.”

“Oh definitely, you are not a good liar, Moral Max.”

“Really though, Chloe. I know I’ve been a bit of a third-wheel since you got Rachel back and you two probably want your privacy so I was thinking of requesting a separate room so you can bond and don’t have to worry about including me in stuff.”

Chloe’s gaze shifted from waiting for some kind of joke to incredulous. “Dude. Are you serious?”

Max was too in her head and didn’t seem to detect the tone. “Oh no, was that too blunt? But yeah I can be out in like fifteen minutes.”

“Dude. Max. Listen, I know things might be a little awkward right now, part of me wants to cling to Rachel so I don’t ever lose her again and can make up for lost time but. You think I don’t want that for our years apart?”

She turned to face Max completely and gently squeezed her arm. “I know things are a bit messy at the moment, it’s hard since I loved and still love her but started falling for you-”

“You fell for me?” Max blurted, a bit dumbfounded.

“Duh! I mean, feelings are hella confusing but I do know that you and her have been the best things that ever happen to me and I damn well don’t want to let go. If you’re still comfortable with it.”

“Do I get a say in the matter too?” Rachel had snuck out of bed and peeked around the corner of the curtain dividing the room. “I’m still in here.”

“Fu-u-uck,” Chloe groaned. “Now I’ve talked feelings in front of two people.”

“Save it for the next time I drag you into a play. Besides, I can honestly say I was already interested in the girl who’d had such an impact on Chloe. The way she talked about you. And maybe I don’t really know you yet but anyone who saved my life and hers seems pretty alright in my book.”

Max felt herself turning bright red at the compliments. “Wowser. So wait, are you saying we should all three date each other? Can people _do_ that?”

Rachel made a finger-gun motion. “Sure, if everyone involved wants to. What could be better than gals being pals in a gay way? Seriously though, I’m totally fine with polyamory and would be willing to give it a shot.”

“Oh, _hella_! I thought we might be getting into some love triangle conversation but two girlfriends? Consensually with all parties? Hell yeah!” Chloe coughed, realizing how overly eager she sounded. “That is… if Max is okay with it too, of course.”

The pair turned to her with expectant eyes. Rachel had a certain enigmatic nature that left Max both nervous and dying to know more, while she was more familiar with Chloe and knew just from her look that even if she said ‘no’, Chloe would never judge her for that.

Taking a deep breath, Max worded everything thoughtfully. “I think that… we would need to set boundaries and stuff so that everyone is comfortable or has the chance to eject if they don’t feel good in it but. I’m in.”

“Great!” Rachel wobbled closer to the bed. “Now, make room before I fall.”

The two scootched so Rachel could sit, sandwiching Max between. “So…” Max coughed, “What even are good boundaries?”

“There’s no bad boundaries. Whatever matters to you should be taken seriously by partners,” Chloe replied.

Rachel nodded approvingly. “That’s right. I’ll admit, for a while I wasn’t the best partner. What with Frank and…” she shuddered.

“That doesn’t matter,” Chloe protested, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving a reassuring squeeze. “I admit… for a bit I was angry about that but they were both like twice your age and used you.”

Rachel sighed and studied the wall, finally replying softly, “I think you’re right but I still cheated. At first it was to help get money to get out of this hellhole but then I got feelings for them.”

The trio were quiet for an awkward stretch. “Okay so… fidelity as a boundary. Or at least talking to everyone before doing anything, cool?” Chloe proclaimed, both of the others nodded their agreement.

“I don’t know what to have for mine,” Max groaned.

“That’s okay, take your time. We don’t want to rush you into this without thinking stuff through. We can change boundaries at any time regardless.”

Max nodded but didn’t really seem to address it. “Man, a month ago I had zero partners, one last week, and now two.” She mused, abruptly remembering that she was touching shoulders with two girlfriends and trying not to blush at the proximity.

“So, are we getting a third next week?” Chloe asked with a grin.

Rachel chimed in. “Or does it double to four, then eight?”

“Dang, Max.”

“Very funny. But then I’d have to have to know more than two people.”

“Damn, my pyramid scheme was foiled. Speaking of getting to know people,” Rachel caught Chloe’s eye and gave her a wink before continuing, “Max, you’ve done teambuilding exercises before, right? How about we do Two Truths and a Lie?”

“As long as I don’t have to do any trust-falls.”

“Noted. Do you want to start?” Rachel looked to her expectantly before interjecting, “No time-travel to win either!”

After a few rounds – Chloe got Max’s right, both got Chloe’s, and neither got Rachel’s – all three were feeling more at ease and comfortable.

Max had just sent a few replies to Warren’s volley of concerned texts when Rachel clamped either hand on her and Chloe’s shoulders. “Okay! Army of girlfriends, can we bust out of the hospital now?”

“Hell yeah!” Chloe jumped out of bed and started to pick Rachel up in a bridal carry. Both were giggling even as she shakily put Rachel back down before she could accidentally drop her. “Max, you’ve got at least half a muscle somewhere. Let’s carry her out.”

The two repositioned so that Rachel could put an arm around either person. “Just so you two know, I can still walk. I do like being flanked by cuties though. Onward!”

They took off with Chloe leading, or more accurately dragging, them and Max reluctantly pulled along.

Boisterously taking up most of the hallway, they had made it down one corridor before turning the corner into a nurse’s station. They tried to slow down but were still fairly conspicuous and two of the nurses moved to block their path with relative ease. “Sorry girls, what exactly do you think you’re doing?”

“Jailbreak!” Both Chloe and Rachel proclaimed it at the same time and Max sighed as she rewound.

For the second time around, she peeled off from the group and stealthily knocked over some binders to distract them, also taking the time to grab the right paperwork and fill it out as best she could before rewinding again and leaving it on their beds.

-=-=-=

The trio were still leaning on each other and laughing when they got outside. Chloe was crooning about how ‘ninja’ they must have been. Max chose to keep quiet about her interference and that she’d guided their path to avoid anyone who would ask questions but she doubted either of them were fooled.

“Now,” Rachel freed one of her hands to gesture at the sunny day, “the world is our oyster!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE OT3 IS FORMED.
> 
> I hope I restored everything, due to a Word glitch I lost 800 words but hopefully restored enough and it's still coherent after re-write. At this point, I'm also caught up with what I had pre-written so depending on how fast writing comes I may move updates to every other friday, we'll see! thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

The trio stood outside the hospital staring at each other, waiting for someone to take the lead and suggest where to go.

The obvious choice if they had been together a week earlier would’ve been the junkyard, but no one wanted to suggest it after thinking about Rachel’s potential fate there.

Blackwell Academy had no appeal to them either, and even if it did might bring back thoughts of Jefferson. Rachel suggested the lighthouse but Chloe made an excuse to help cover for Max’s discomfort with how much that reminded her of the storm.

“Damn, we have too much trauma,” Rachel groaned. “How about the diner then? Hopefully none of us got stabbed there or anything?”

Chloe looked to Max for confirmation, who nodded. “No stabbing there in the timelines I was in, anyway.”

“Great, let’s go see Joyce! I’m starving anyway.”

As they walked to their car, Chloe was idly tossing her keys back and forth between her hands. As Max watched, she saw a toss go wide, projected to fly out of her grip. Instead though, it jerked in midair and corrected its path into her hand. Neither Chloe nor Rachel noticed, but as Max was staring intently she almost tripped on a curb so had to focus away from her reverie for now.

-=-=-=

By the time they got there, it was nearly 11 and the diner was pretty bustling. The trio managed to snag one of the last free booths but before they were seated, they were spotted.

“Rachel!” Joyce set down the pot of coffee she was carrying and wrapped her into a hug. “My word, girl. We were all so worried, most of all Chloe. She devoted so much time looking for you.”

“It’s so good to see you, Joyce,” Rachel replied, hugging her in return before tapping out after a few seconds, “I heard that too. Going to buy some brunch for my rescuers!”

“Oh, nonsense!” She switched to a stern expression. “Whatever you want is on the house, dear.”

As she went off to grab them some cups, Rachel mimed wiping sweat from her brow in relief. “Thank god, I still don’t have my wallet. I think the police are keeping it and my phone for evidence from the Dark Room.”

Max laughed, then paused. “Wait, does that make me the only person here with money?”

Chloe fished out her wallet then made a show of opening it as a few dollars and change spilled out. “Guess that makes you our sugar-daddy?”

“Regretting this already,” Max groaned, burying her face against the table until Joyce returned.

When Joyce returned – already knowing what the girls liked and wanted – the trio feasted in relative peace.

Chloe was the first to finish, dropping her silverware onto her plate in a way that certainly could’ve been quieter. Using her napkin, she paused after and started making faces at something behind the other two.

“Ugh, I forgot. I have a reason to not want to be here either.” Rachel and Max both turned around in their seat to follow her gaze in time to catch someone pulling up a newspaper to hide behind, seeing only a glimpse of dark hair. “Stepfucker keeps alternating between staring and pretending not to. How did he ever think he was stealthy?”

Joyce stopped to top off their drinks and scowled at overhearing their remarks. Chloe seemed to brace herself for getting chided but instead she was on the rare winning end of them. “I’m sorry, girls. After I found out about David’s cameras and files on the students, I told him to stay at a hotel and he has. He’s also been slinking around here waiting for me to pay attention so he can say sorry, but I told everyone to ignore him.”

“Damn, mom. Hella good for you!” Chloe put up her hand for a high-five, but Joyce left her hanging and moved on to helping another table. “Whatever, I’ll take whatever wins I get.”

As she reclined and closed her eyes for a moment, as relaxed as she could be without leaning into someone else’s booth, Max noticed that Chloe’s keys were within reach on the table. Thinking of how Chloe had caught her keys before and how she seemed to deflect a bullet before, Max got an idea.

She picked up the keys, answering Rachel’s quizzical look with a ‘shhh’ and a coy smile. Hefting them to feel how much they weighed, she pulled back then threw them high, further up than she figured Chloe could reach. “Chloe, catch!”

Rachel grabbed at Max’s arm too late to stop it and they watched as Chloe’s eyes shot open in time to see the keys flying and swung her arm up to try and block them. “Dude!” Despite the indignant tone, they watched the keys as they shifted in midair to Chloe’s grip. Like a magnet.

‘ _One more time,_ ’ Max thought to herself and braced her arm out to rewind. Rachel’s hand was still on her wrist and time seemed to pull back sluggishly at first. When she got to right after she’d hushed Rachel, Max saw the other was now staring at her in surprise then broke out into a grin. “I remembered it?! That’s sick,” she whispered as quietly as possible despite the excitement.

“I guess because we were touching? Wow, that’s the first time that’s happened.”

Chloe cracked open an eye towards them. “Hey, are you two new lovebirds whispering something about me? Sharing is caring.”

“One more test?” Rachel nodded eagerly. “Chloe, catch!”

Again, the same result, though this time with more arm flailing from Chloe since she’d seen part of what was coming with watching them. “For real, what the hell?”

“You’re a magnet,” Rachel replied with glee, tossing a spoon under-hand. “Keep your palm open!”

Chloe’s hand shot up to protect her face and the utensil hit the flat of her hand. And stayed there. Pulling it back to look at the spoon, after a few seconds it fell off her hand. “Thank god that worked before I had to move on to the fork or knife,” Rachel smirked.

“Please no knives,” Chloe winced at the thought then paused as it seemed to sink in. “I have-” she lowered her voice and leaned in, “I have fucking powers! Holy shit, dude!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorter one, sorry haha. Gotta love the impulsive, potentially dangerous teen shenanigans made better or worse by powers

**Author's Note:**

> the title is a reference to Treasure Planet. I'm still fighting myself on whether I should've called this 'The Corners of the World our Mere Prologue'


End file.
